A milestone in the road map to 2020" is an apt description for Dubai’s decision to make all buildings in the emirate disabled-friendly by 2020, commented a UAE daily.

"The importance of being a hundred per cent disabled-friendly city has never been lost on Dubai in its commitment to be a world-class city that offers its residents a world-class quality of life," said the Gulf News in its editorial. This is evident in the slew of initiatives launched for the disabled over the years, including the seminal My Community A City for Everyone’ in 2013.

As things stand, the synergy between various government departments has been yielding a higher quotient of comfort and accessibility for this section of society year after year. Many newer buildings in the expanding urban scape of Dubai are in alignment with this goal but the challenge lies in addressing the swathes of urban scape, old and new, that still do not possess the required facilities, the paper said, adding that this challenge is now poised to be met with the implementation of a project announced on Wednesday, ‘Accessible Environments for People with Disability based on Universal Design’.

The project, in line with the wider ‘My Community A City for Everyone’ initiative, will ensure that all new buildings in Dubai conform to the Dubai Standard guidelines to be soon established while existing buildings will be retrofitted wherever possible.

"This coherence of infrastructure lies at the heart of Dubai’s transformation into a disabled-friendly city. The simple everyday acts that the non-disabled take for granted getting out of the house, walking down the street, commuting to work, visiting a mall can be vexatious challenges for the disabled. Standardising accessibility and mobility for all residents translates into a ubiquitous quality of life for all and Dubai is not far from that goal," the paper concluded.

Source:WAM